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https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/dec/07/no-one-knows-where-it-came-from-first-wild-beaver-spotted-in-norfolk-for-400-years>
"A wild beaver has been spotted in Norfolk for the first time since beavers
were hunted to extinction in England at the beginning of the 16th century.
It was filmed dragging logs and establishing a lodge in a “perfect beaver
habitat” on the River Wensum at Pensthorpe, a nature reserve near Fakenham in
Norfolk.
It is the first time a free-living beaver has been recorded in the county since
the species began to re-establish itself in the English countryside in 2015,
when a litter of wild kits was born in Devon.
“This animal just appeared in our reserve. No one knows where it’s come from,
but it’s found what I consider a perfect beaver habitat,” said the reserve’s
manager, Richard Spowage. He estimates the beaver has been living in an
isolated and almost impenetrable area of the reserve for about a month.
“It’s a section of the river that we’ve left to go wild,” he added. “There’s
plenty of tree cover and we think it might be travelling into the adjacent
marshes, hunting for food.”
The beaver – a nocturnal herbivore – is collecting willow trees at night and
building a larder of bark to store near its home. “It’s turned up and it’s just
doing what a beaver does, which is cutting down trees and gathering food for
the winter. That way, once it gets too cold, or if there’s too much flooding,
it can just stay in its little lodge and keep warm,” Spowage said."
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*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
